emmett81390

I looked at the personal statement as a way to show how I could help the program. It follows that my statement was (along with the typical talk of past experiences, etc.) a general overview of my interests and how they related to my POIs research projects. I waited until the interview process to talk in depth about specific ideas I had for research as I thought face to face interactions would be more conducive to having a meaningful back and forth with my POI.

I've gotten the sense from speaking to successful applicants that the email to POIs should be used to very briefly introduce yourself, explain in a sentence or two what you like about their research, and establish whether or not they will be taking students. If you want to go a step further you can always attach your CV but it is important to keep the text of the email short and to the point, as professors receive tons of these emails every year. You can and should address your specific interests in your personal statement.

Thanks so much! Just sent you a message.

Just PM'd you.

For those waiting on NYU social; I just emailed the program coordinator and found out that interview invitations will be finalized within the next week or so.

Thanks. I'm always hesitant to contact professors directly as I'm sure they're swamped with requests this time of year. Out of curiosity who is your POI?

Does anyone know much about the UMASS-Amherst admissions process for social psych? Do they Interview candidates or just accept students? Is there a timeline for their decisions? They are one of my top choices so I'm kind of freaking out that I haven't heard anything yet.

Thanks for the update!

Has anyone heard from the following programs? Duke (Social) UNC (Social) NYU (Social) I'm assuming I was rejected as I haven't been invited to interview but if no one has heard from these programs there may be some hope yet.

Out of curiosity, what program did you apply to and who was you POI?

I didn't get any interview invites at my top choices the first time around and reapplied to four schools this year. As of now I'm 1/4 in interviews at the schools I have reapplied to.

Completely agree with this poster. Taking a year to strengthen your application may seem like a compromise now but if it turns out to be the difference between settling for a program due to convenience and going to a school you love than it may be the best thing in the long run. Take it from someone who went through this; the time between when this cycle is done in April and when you will start reapplying goes very quickly, especially if you are being proactive improving your application (working, studying for the GREs, etc.).

8 and 11 respectively. I was able to up the overall numbers of applications I sent out by eliminating some exclusion criteria (i.e. I only looked at schools on the east coast last year while this year I applied to schools all over the country) while still only applying to programs that I was very excited about.

I applied last year and was accepted to several programs that were less than ideal so I decided to put off grad school for a year. My thought process this year was much different than it was last year as I spent months researching programs and only applied to programs that I would be happy attending. While I may not get into my top choices I would be thrilled to attend any of the schools I applied to this round.

Has anyone heard from NYU Social yet?

Could you PM me the POI as well?

Is it me, or have there been a relative dearth of social psych interview invites posted compared to other programs?

With you on this... unless they've been through it themselves many people just don't understand that you can have the right combination of grades, test scores, research experience, and recommendations and still not get in anywhere.

Definitely agree with this poster. Getting a MA with a stellar GPA will really help. FYI If funding is an issue there are some funded masters programs (Wake Forest and William & Mary come to mind) but these will be pretty competitive.

whelp fml... hopefully the professor I sent a follow-up email to chalks it up to naivete, eagerness, etc.

For what it's worth, after posting this I also spoke to a friend who's in a phd program at MIT about this. His feeling was that it was absolutely acceptable to do.

I contacted my top choice professor back in August but I was wondering whether it is worth shooting him another email now that I have officially submitted my application. My thought is that this could be a good way to reintroduce myself and make sure he keeps an eye out for my application. However, I'm worried that this could come off as slightly annoying/pushy. Any advice?

In this thread we are investigating individual differences in ability of undergraduate students to get help on their schoolwork...

I'm applying to work with professors doing work in these three topics: 1) Interpersonal/Romantic Relationships 2) Religion and Religiosity and their effect on the self 3) Self-Regulation (ego depletion and commitment tools) A few social programs I've found are doing research that touch on several of these topics.

Thanks for the info! I'll definitely keep that last bit in mind as something to look out for.